Mahone Bay residents: Iconic view at risk

Some Mahone Bay residents are concerned an upgraded cell tower that would be more than twice the height of the existing one will ruin the famous viewplane of the town’s waterfront. (BEVERLEY WARE / South Shore Bureau)

Some Mahone Bay residents are worried an enhanced cell tower will ruin one of the most photographed images of Nova Scotia.

Mahone Bay’s three churches are so well recognized there’s even a wine named after them, but Bell Canada has proposed replacing its cell tower with one that’s more than twice as tall.

“It would create a real blemish on the scene,” said Jerry Trites of the Three Churches Foundation, which is steward of the properties, along Edgewater Street.

“The view is terribly important to all the town,” he said.

The existing 24-metre-high tower is off Zwicker Lane, just north of the town. Bell Canada plans to upgrade service by replacing it with a 60-metre tower.

That’s a considerable difference, said Mayor Joe Feeney.

“A lot of people are concerned about the iconic view plane and what that will look like … whether it will be a serious detractor,” Feeney said.

Transport Canada requires it to be painted certain colours because of a small landing strip in the area, and to be lit up at night because of the potential navigation hazard, Feeney said.

Barry Dupuis lives just 250 metres away from the tower on the outskirts of town.

One resident told him it will be like having a fourth steeple sticking up into the sky.

While Bell presented the town with a rendering it said shows the tower will not be visible to those enjoying the view of the three churches, Dupuis said a group of residents did their own rendering, which shows it would jut up into the skyline behind the churches.

He said Bell has committed to floating a balloon 60 metres into the sky at the site for five days in August to show people what visual impact the tower would have.

Feeney said the town has organized a public meeting for 7 p.m. on Aug. 21. The venue has not yet been finalized.

After that, residents have another 30 days to file their comments.

“Bell are very eager to be co-operative and not … doing things that will upset the citizens of the town,” Feeney said.

He said Bell “would be well advised to try to do everything it can to find an alternate site.”

Dupuis said a landowner who owns a woodlot on the other side of Highway 103 has offered to have the tower placed on his property.

He said Rogers and Eastlink have both placed cell towers on the opposite side of the Trans-Canada after concerns were expressed by residents in East River, Martins River and Blockhouse.

Dupuis said a group of residents is organizing a community meeting it hopes to hold in August but Bell won’t be invited. He said the corporation is having its day with the meeting hosted by the town.